Automatic ash remover for furnaces



L. SCHWITZER ET AL AUTOMATIC ASH REMOVER FOR FURNACES Oct. 17, 1939.

Filed Jan; 31, 1938 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORJ. A 00/5 Saw/775k. 34 BY Jo/m KOLfl/VD.

ATTORNEY3.

Oct. 17, 1939.

L. SCHWIT ZER -r AL AUTOMATIC ASH REMOVER FOR FURNACES 2 Sheets -Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 51, 1938 Kan/v0,

ATTORNEYS.

. Patented Oct. 17, i939 UNITED STATES 2,176,563 AUTOMATIC ASH anmovna FOR- FURNACES Louis Schwitzer and John Roland, Indianapolis;

Ind., assignors to 'Schwitzer-Cummins Company, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation Application January 31, 1938, Serial No. 181,800

Claims. (01. 110-165) 1 This invention relates to a mechanism for automatically removing ashes from the retort of a furnace operated by an underfeed: stoker. v

It is the object of the invention to provide 5 mechanism associated with and driven by the stoker drive for discharging accumulated ashes from the retort of the furnace and conveying them therefrom to the usual ash can.

One of the features of the invention resides in the reversibility of the elevating section of the conveyor so that this section, aswell as the ash can, may readily be positioned on either side of the stoker. This arrangement is advantageous in that the location of the stoker and the surrounding space may require ashes to be removed from one side or the other.

The full nature of the invention will be un stood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a stoker mechanism and retort for a furnace showing the ash removing conveyor and cans associated therea with. Fig, 2 is a sectional view through the casmg and housing, showing the drive for the ash elevating screw. Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the driving mechanism for ash removing and ash elevating screws. Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the elevating conveyor and ash can shown on one side of the stoker in full lines and on the 30 other side thereof in dotted lines.

In the drawings, there is shown a stoker for feeding solid fuel and air to a retort positioned in a furnace, including the usual hopper ill for providing a supply of fuel, the housing [I containing power mechanism for driving the usual fan contained in the housing l3, and the screw feed for conveying fuel from the hopper ill through the conduit It to the retort l5. Air is delivered under Pressure to said retort from the I as the housing 22, are enclosed within a casing 4'0 fan housing l3 through the air conduit IS.

The power drive for the screw feed and fan, forming no part of this invention, is not illustrated herein, but reference may be had in respect thereto to Letters Patent 'NoI 1,994,800,

45 issued March 19, 1935, to Carl J. Winkler and John Roland on Hydraulic switch control, in

conjunction with Letters Patent No. 1,968,188, issued-to Carl J. Winkler and Herman E. Winkler on Hydraulic power transmission and timing conl0 trol therefor.

. ,For automatically removinga'shes discharged from the retort i5 into the furnace, the retort is as to be rotated thereabout. Said fingers are adapted to dislodge accumulations of ashes from about the wall of the retort or the fringe of the fire bed, breaking up any clinkers and causing the ashes to drop into engagement with the conveyor screw H9. The ring I'l,-with its fingers I8, is slowly rotated about the retort by engagement of the outwardly extending tooth-like projections 20 between the threads of the screw i9, in the manner of a screw gear drive. The'screw' l9 extends horizontally from adjacent the retort through a conveyor tube into a housing 22, said tube being supported by a bracket 23 on the screw feed tube it.

The screw i9 terminates in the housing 22 so as to discharge the ashes conveyed through. the tube 2i into said housing. The driven end of the screw is keyed to a stub shaft 2 1 supported in a bearing 25. Said stub shaft has a hub 26 keyed thereto which carries a double faced spirally toothed bevel gear 21. The hub is connected with a drive shaft 28'which extends below the hopper i0 into the housing ii and carries on the driven end thereof a sprocket 29 driven by a chain 30 from the shaft 3| which drives the feed screw extending through the feed tube I 4.

Extending upwardly at an angle from the housing 22 there is provided an auidliary con- ,veyor tube 32 through which the auxiliary conveyor screw 33' extends. Said auxiliary screw is supported at its lower end in a bearing 34 formed in said housing 22, having a stub shaft 35 extending therethrough to which a beveled pinion 36 is keyed exteriorly of the housing. Said pinion is formed and positioned to mesh with and be driven by the bevel gear 2'! so that upon rotation of the bevel gear and screw l9, the auxiliary screw 33 will be driven in timedrelation therewith. The bevel gear 21 and pinion 36, as well 31. The casing has a removable cover, and the housing 22 a removable hand plate 38 to provide access to the interior thereof for removal of any obstructions finding their way intp the housing.

At the upper end of the conveyor tube 32 there is a discharge head 39 having a pair of oppositely and outwardly extending spouts 4 0 offset from each other to discharge ashes conveyed therethrough into the ash cans ll. Each of the spouts I0 is provided with a flexible hose for removable connection with the lid of a can.

One of the features of the above described structure resides in the reversibility of the auxiliary co veyor 33 and 'tube 32 whereby the same maybe ositioned on either side of the stoker for convenience in adapting the ash removing feature of the stoker to various conditions in respect to space and the handling of ash cans.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, the housing 22 may be reversed to the position shown in dotted linesso that the auxiliary screw 33 and tube 32 extend to the opposite side of" the stoker. In this positionythe double bevel driving gear 271 is removed from the hub 26 and reversed so that the'spiral of the driving teeth thereof will engage and rotate the pinion 36 in the proper direction. Thus, one side of the beveled gear 21 'will drive the pinion 36 in one direction when positioned as shown in full lines in Fig. 4, and the other. side will drive the pinion in the same direction when positioned as shown in dotted lines. The direction of drive of the pinion is such as to rotate the screw feed 33in the proper direction to carry the ashes upwardly into the cans M.

v In reversed position, the housing 22, with its associated parts, pinion 35, auxiliary tube 32 and screw 33, as wellas the parts it and MD, are bodily turned about as a unit so as to extend in the opposite direction. With thereversal of the driving gear 2'8, the mechanism will function in such reverse direction as above described, the position of all other parts remaining the same.

The invention claimed is:

l. Mechanism for removing ashes from a furnace having a retort into which fuel is fed by a power driven stoker, comprising a screw conveyor, a shaft for driving said screw conveyor for conveying ashes from the retort, a reversible housing into which said ashes aredischarged, an auxiliary conveyor extending at an angle to said first-mentioned conveyor and supported by said housing for conveying the discharged ashes therefrom to a receiving receptacle, and a gear on said drive shaft for driving said auxiliary conveyor in timed relation with said stokerl and screw conveyor, said gear being reversible for driving said auxiliary conveyor in the same direction upon said housing being reversed.

2. Mechanism for removing ashes from a fur nace having a retort into which fuel is fed by' a power driven stoker, comprising a tube for receiving ashes from the retort, a housing secured to the discharge endof said tube and reversible with respect thereto, a screw conveyor extending through said tube, a shaft driven by ,said stoker extending through said housing for driving said screw conveyor, an auxiliary conveyor tube communicating with said housing and extending at an angle to said first-mentioned tube and upwardly therefrom, an auxiliary conveyor screw in said last-mentionedtube having a driving pinion on the lower end thereof,

' 3. Mechanism for removing ashes from a furnace having a retort into which fuel is fed by a power driven stoker, comprising a tube for receiving ashes from the retort, a housing secured to the discharge end of said tube and reversible with respect thereto, a screw conveyor extending through said tube, a shaft driven by said stoker extending through said housing for driving said screw conveyor, an auxiliary conveyor tube communicating with said housing and reversible therewith and extending at right angles to said first-mentioned tube and upwardly therefrom, an auxiliary conveyor screw having a beveled driving pinion on the lower end( thereof, and a double-faced beveled gear on said Stoker driven shaft, said beveled gear being reversible to drive said auxiliary conveyor in the same direction and in timed relation with said stoker whether said auxiliary screw conveyor tube'be disposed at one side or the other of said ash receiving tube. Y

a. Mechanism for removing ashes froma furnace having a retort into which fuel is fed by a power driven stoker, comprising a rotatable a itator ring movable about said retort, a screw conveyor for driving said ring and conveying ashes received thereby, a reversible housing into which said ashes are discharged by said con- U veyor, an auxiliary conveyor supported by said housing and reversible therewith, said auxiliary conveyor extending at an angle to said screw conveyor and upwardly therefrom, a beveled pinion on the lower end of said auxiliary conveyor, a drive shaft extending through said housing for driving said screw conveyor in timed relation with said stoker, and a double-faced beveled gear on said shaft, said beveled gear being reversible'to drive said auxiliary conveyor in the same direction whether said auxiliary conveyor be disposed at one side or the other of said first-mentioned screw conveyor.

5. Mechanism for removing ashes from a furnace having a retort into which fuel is fed by a power driven stoker, comprising a conduit for .receiving ashes from the retort, a housing se- JOHN ROLAND. LOUIS SCHWITZER. 

